“David Lipsky, another New York writer and frequent dog walker, said he often ‘shuffles’ music on his iPod, and has similarly come to enjoy jumping among chapters of, say, James Joyce, Martin Amis and Al Franken as he circles the block.”

Now, 37 percent of people say they’ve listened to an audio book, and the medium continues to become an important substitute for old-fashioned reading. Thanks in part to the ubiquity of iPods other gadgets, audio books remain popular despite turmoil in the publishing industry - experiencing a modest growth in sales in past years.

But do all the myriad benefits that books provide - intellectual enrichment, emotional fulfillment, entertainment - really transmit just as well through sound?